Sustainable HKMA

Climate targets

Building on our ongoing green office initiatives, the HKMA aims to achieve net-zero in Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3¹ (business air travel) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across all areas of its corporate operations by 2050 or earlier.

As its near-term emissions reduction targets, the HKMA plans to eliminate Scope 1 emissions completely through transitioning all its existing vehicles to electric vehicles, and by implementing decarbonisation strategies and through removal of emissions methods, such as procuring renewable energy certificates, to reduce Scope 2 emissions by 63% by 2030, using 2015 as the base year.

The above long-term and near-term emissions reduction targets are set with reference to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) methodology. These levels of reduction align with the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

In addition, while there are challenges in determining Scope 3 emissions, the HKMA will endeavour to minimise GHG emissions from various sources that are included within Scope 3 emissions, such as paper consumption, waste and business air travel, as far as practicable. Travel emissions will be removed or offset, where appropriate, from 2023 onwards.

As we take measures to prevent, reduce or eliminate sources of GHG emissions, we will report our GHG emissions on a regular basis.  In this regard, we have appointed Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency to verify the HKMA’s target setting approach and emissions data.

To deliver on our commitments, our decarbonisation strategies include:

• Incorporating environmental factors in the interior design of our office, with a view to obtaining green building accreditation from authoritative certification bodies;
• Switching all HKMA-owned cars to electric vehicles to achieve green mobility;
• Deploying energy saving measures, such as installing light-emitting diode (LED) lightings for the entire office premises;
• Adopting more environmentally friendly business practices, such as digitalising meeting materials and using electronic processes for internal matters;
• Operating two green data centres (production and back up) by applying green designs and energy efficiency practices, and cutting down on electronic waste through adopting technology solutions, such as server virtualisation and private cloud infrastructure; and
• Advocating a green culture within the organisation, promoting the four ‘R’s of refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle to significantly cut paper footprint and minimise waste.

Find out more about the HKMA’s carbon profile, energy, paper consumption and non-hazardous waste intensity over a five-year period from 2017 to 2021 on pages 195-196 of the Sustainability chapter in the 2021 Annual Report. 

Marketplace support

The HKMA is making its best efforts to promote an environmentally friendly marketplace, by advocating measures that enhance operational efficiency and minimise resource consumption for both the HKMA and the financial industry:

• Launching STET (Submission Through Electronic Transmission), a one-stop platform for banks to make electronic submissions to the HKMA, and e-Delivery, a secure electronic communication channel for the HKMA to disseminate information to banks to reduce paper usage;
• Recycling coins through the Coin Collection Programme; and
• Encouraging the public to use electronic channels, including the Faster Payment System (FPS) and SVF e-wallets, in particular, to give out electronic lai sees and use good-as-new notes during the Chinese New Year.

¹ As defined by the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard

Our staff are valuable assets of the HKMA.  We promote work-life balance and seek to foster a healthy and inclusive workplace that enhances staff’s well-being.  We value every employee’s opinion and provide various communication tools for staff to offer their advice and express concerns.

In fulfilling our social responsibility, we look beyond the immediate corporate boundaries to upstream and downstream sectors to broaden our impacts. 

Sustainable Procurement

Our sustainable procurement policy embeds environmental, social and economic considerations, covering electrical appliances, printing paper, equipment, building services and products for interior use. We place high emphasis on supply chain risk management. We assess a supplier’s profile and product, including its business ethics and labour practices. We engage with social enterprises, including them on our list of local vendors. 

Volunteer and Charitable Activities

We are committed to giving back to the communities by encouraging​ our staff to participate in volunteer and charity work. We partner with various community organisations to address community causes. Examples of how our staff bring positive impact to our communities can be found on pages 201-203 of the Sustainability Chapter of the 2021 Annual Report.

Community Engagement and Public Education

We actively run various community engagement and education initiatives through various channels to promote smart and responsible use of banking and financial services, as well as to help the public, particularly the young generation, to understand the developments and career opportunities in the financial industry in Hong Kong.

Advocating Financial Inclusion

To promote financial inclusion in Hong Kong, we work closely with the banking industry to enhance access to basic banking services by different segments of society. 

Find out more about the principles and recommended good practices set out in the industry guidelines for banks on banking services for people with physical, visual and hearing impairments, intellectual impairment and dementia on the webpage of the Hong Kong Association of Banks.